Sunday, February 28, 2010

Progress

I'm a big fan of German Chocolate cake, though the cake I enjoy is probably the furthest thing from the real deal. The foundation is the Cooks Illustrated chocolate cake, so very 'authentic' but the coating is pure frosting-in-a-can. Yep, with an ingredient list longer than the list of pork barrel projects in the latest Federal Budget. Delicious. But I digress.

Lots of priming and painting over the past two weekends. Finally all (well, excluding the inside of the closet) of the interior surfaces that need paint have paint. This weekend I started the easy, though time-consuming, process of spray painting the cabinet doors. They'll be a slightly darker shade of gray than the cabinets themselves -- I think the difference is a nice look -- mostly because that's the gray that I could find in Rust Oleum.

I used gray primer and then satin black on a number of items including the floor mounts for the dinette table, the hinges for the cabinets and the windshield wiper arms. That's such an easy update and really makes them look just like new again. Maybe 15 minutes work. Yes, I know the screws on the cabinets are still brown. I will most likely (never) touch them up after everything else is done. It seemed futile to spray paint them and then put a screwdriver on them and scrape them up.

The Rust Oleum Hammered Metal finish black now coats the converter cover and the plastic heating vent covers. It really takes 1990 brown up a notch and, with the dappled finish, any funky results because of the plastic or the old metal just disappear.

This afternoon I managed to get the first planks of flooring in after a final scouring of the subfloor with a pair of pliers to hunt down any remaining staples. Zen and the art of staple pulling. The underlayment for the laminate floor is a piece of cake, just roll it out and trim it to fit. What to do with all the leftover is a bit of a mystery, however. Anyone out there need enough to do another Sunrader or two?

Two boxes (40 sq. feet) will be more than enough to cover the floor from the rear of the truck cab through the whole coach. 99 cents a square foot at the big orange box (though I think like any good 'ya want fries with that' kinda strategy, I'm sure they make it up on all the trim pieces). The fun part of installation is that almost every board requires some kind of custom cut, whether it is a simple offsetting straight cut or a notch around a cabinet corner. Worse, these old particle board cabinets are far from straight, especially on the sink and oven side of the coach. Eventually the cabinets will all get replaced but for now it just adds to the time with the jigsaw.

So the floor should be in and the quarter-round that it floats under all tacked in by next weekend. From there, it is more cabinet door painting and re-installation. I also have the clean-out and repair of the closet to do (it needs a new floor, and may get a shelf or two as well).

I'm trying to plan out the storage for cycling trips (where to mount clamps to hold a tire pump) as well as camping (where does everybody's duffel go?). There isn't a lot of space over the 21 feet, so well planned stash spots will be important and I like the idea of things having a 'place'.

In the midst of all of that, I expect to get the call from Mike soon to bring the rig in for the upholstery work. That will mean the new carpet kit, new seats, new rear cushions and the overcab bunk carpet. It will be transformational. To get that done, however, the paint has to be completely finished and the wood floor must be in place so that Mike can trim out the carpet against it. Nothing like a good deadline to keep things on track.

And back to the chocolate cake. Aside from new aches and pains, I got some great gifts this year for making it around the Sun one more time. Home-made curtains are on tap, along with a new counter for the kitchenette from SUBA. Now i have to figure out what type of laminate surface to choose... black granite? Hmmm... The finishing touches are falling into place.

Oh, and the fit kit to install the Pioneer deck in the cab is on order along with a digital clock for the coach, snap mounts for a couple of maglite flashlights and new coach speakers (heavens, a 'subwoofer' even...for 10 bucks on Amazon i couldn't resist and it had great reviews). I also tracked down all the plugworks for connecting an iPhone or iPod to the older Pioneer head unit, so we'll have endless tunes on the road. Of course Duncan has his eye on an LCD for the coach, but this will do for now.

Big Bear

About Me

Dad, tech industry strategist, avid (yet very average) cyclist and pro-cycling fan. Cancer survivor. I am a sucker for great music, potent coffee and red wine -- though a terrific Sav Blanc can be delicious too.
Though it goes without saying, the words and perspectives and images in this blog are my own unless otherwise expressly indicated.
They are in no way tied to any employer past or present.